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Vol.84
Four-Character Idions and Proverbs |
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Apr.02,2025 |
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In Japan, many four-character idioms have been passed down from generation to generation, including "Comeback from the dead," "Surrounded by enemies on all sides," "Rocky road ahead," etc.
There are also many old sayings, such as "He that will none ill do must do nothing that belongs thereto" and "Good luck and bad luck alternate like the strands of a rope."
Among all, "Who commends himself berates himself" is my favorite and also my motto. As you get older, this becomes more difficult to practice. Consequently, you may even be disliked by young people. That is why I always try to gain an understanding of others through how I act or behave in my daily life, but this is also difficult.
Children are said to learn from their parents, and this is undoubtedly because actions speak louder than words.
Most of the four-character idioms and proverbs were introduced to Japan by China, and Japanese proverbs were probably last developed in the Edo period. In today's society, people spend less time writing words but send messages from their smartphones or PCs, instead. Like many others, I often use my smartphone or PC to search for Kanji words when I cannot remember them. In Japan, people also tend to shorten words, most of which do not make sense to me, and more politicians and entrepreneurs have recently made a slip of the tongue.
I am wondering what lies beyond if people live under time pressure, based on fake news, and without thinking things through carefully. Such current trends in people's lifestyles could be one of the reasons why new four-character idioms or proverbs do not emerge.
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